Repalcing Platters...

geek73 · 04-15-2007, 08:35 AM

Howdy all,
Well one of my 360 gig hard drives went dead. (the SATA connection chipped the side off when I was not being patient)

Have any of you ever tried replacing the platters? I went out and got me a T6 T screw, it fits in there, I loosed all the nuts, But afraid to take the shell off as it is not in a clean room. I have another DOA 360 gig shell that I made a nice windchime out of the platters. Same brand same Interface same size.. Can it be done?

**mattlock** · 04-15-2007, 10:28 AM

I've never done it myself, but I've got a buudy that's done it few times on older drives. His latest attempt was on a SCSI drive. The jury is still out on that one, but the other drives he did it on worked. Atleast for his purpose, just to retrieve data. I don't know if continued to using the drives after retrieving the Data.

Good Luck.

Here's a link to some instruction.

http://www.wikihow.com/Swap-Hard-Disk-Drive-Platters

ceri sheeran · 04-15-2007, 10:31 AM

Hi,

If you open up a hard drive outside of a clean room, there is very little chance of being able to carry out any repairs.

If you can find an identical working hard drive, the electronics can be swapped over. I've not done this or needed to, but have read of it being done. The hard drive is not opened up at all, just the Printed Circuit Board swapped out.

A Data recovery service may be your only option.

hth

Ceri

**mattlock** · 04-15-2007, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ceri sheeran

Hi,

If you open up a hard drive outside of a clean room, there is very little chance of being able to carry out any repairs.
If you can find an identical working hard drive, the electronics can be swapped over. I've not done this or needed to, but have read of it being done. The hard drive is not opened up at all, just the Printed Circuit Board swapped out.

A Data recovery service may be your only option.

hth

Ceri

Sure it decreases you're chances, but in 2 out 3 (Jury still out on the 3rd) cases it has worked without a clean room. I guess it would depend on how important your data is if you want to go to the expense of send it to a data recovery service. If you're just doing it for the experience, go for it.

geek73 · 04-15-2007, 10:47 AM

Well I have all the Data backed up on WD Mybook.. But it would be nice to try and see if it can work.. I have a semi clean room, toys are not all over the place lol. I know the platters will suck the dust in the Air right to em..
Will let you know..

crazijoe · 04-16-2007, 06:15 AM

I've done this before with a clear baggy. I't was enough that I could extract the data from it but then it started to drop sectors.

04-15-2007, 08:35 AM	#1 (permalink)
geek73 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 694 OS: SuSe Linux My System	Repalcing Platters... Howdy all, Well one of my 360 gig hard drives went dead. (the SATA connection chipped the side off when I was not being patient) Have any of you ever tried replacing the platters? I went out and got me a T6 T screw, it fits in there, I loosed all the nuts, But afraid to take the shell off as it is not in a clean room. I have another DOA 360 gig shell that I made a nice windchime out of the platters. Same brand same Interface same size.. Can it be done?

04-15-2007, 10:28 AM	#2 (permalink)
mattlock Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 4,072 OS: XP SP2, Win 7 Beta, Win 7 RC My System	Re: Repalcing Platters... I've never done it myself, but I've got a buudy that's done it few times on older drives. His latest attempt was on a SCSI drive. The jury is still out on that one, but the other drives he did it on worked. Atleast for his purpose, just to retrieve data. I don't know if continued to using the drives after retrieving the Data. Good Luck. Here's a link to some instruction. http://www.wikihow.com/Swap-Hard-Disk-Drive-Platters __________________ Matt Everest-Thermal Paste Instruction-Power Supply Info-Sensorview PSU Calculator-Speedfan-Bench Test Help TSF Fight Disease. It's Free! Last edited by mattlock; 04-15-2007 at 10:39 AM.

04-15-2007, 10:31 AM	#3 (permalink)
ceri sheeran Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 285 OS: WINXP	Re: Repalcing Platters... Hi, If you open up a hard drive outside of a clean room, there is very little chance of being able to carry out any repairs. If you can find an identical working hard drive, the electronics can be swapped over. I've not done this or needed to, but have read of it being done. The hard drive is not opened up at all, just the Printed Circuit Board swapped out. A Data recovery service may be your only option. hth Ceri

04-15-2007, 10:47 AM	#5 (permalink)
geek73 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 694 OS: SuSe Linux My System	Re: Repalcing Platters... Well I have all the Data backed up on WD Mybook.. But it would be nice to try and see if it can work.. I have a semi clean room, toys are not all over the place lol. I know the platters will suck the dust in the Air right to em.. Will let you know..

04-16-2007, 06:15 AM	#6 (permalink)
crazijoe Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Omaha, The Center of the Universe Posts: 7,632 OS: WinXP, Win2K3 My System	Re: Repalcing Platters... I've done this before with a clear baggy. I't was enough that I could extract the data from it but then it started to drop sectors. __________________ Microsoft MCSA + Messaging, MVP, A+, Network+ http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3...other/Help.jpg Do you want a real Republican? HDD diagnostic tools / HDD data recovery software